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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25555375">fear of water</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/illy/pseuds/illy'>illy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>close your eyes, think of something nice [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Undertale (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Undertale Genocide Route, Veteran Grillby (Undertale), basically genocide run from Grillby's POV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:33:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,447</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25555375</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/illy/pseuds/illy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Grillby realizes that the Underground is falling apart.<br/>But at that point, most of them are already dead.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>close your eyes, think of something nice [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1811887</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>fear of water</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The change is sudden. It happens in one day, in one swift hit that hadn’t been expected.</p><p>At the time he hadn’t realized what had happened.</p><p>Still, it’s surreal to see his bar so empty. Only last night monsters had gathered here cheerful and loud like they do every night. But now, it seems that every dog monster is gone from their usual spots, leaving only six residents —himself included in the bar.</p><p>It’s… strangely desolate without them.</p><p>And Grillby feels uneasy, like something’s wrong, unnatural, unsafe. A part of him feels as though everything has started to fall apart. The sentiment, unbidden and abstract, is left overlooked.</p><p>He is a busy man after all, and if something is truly ‘wrong’ (and it surely isn’t), well, that’s what the Royal Guard is for,</p><p>not a bartender.</p><p>… </p><p>Snowdin is evacuating.</p><p>The words pass straight through his head the first time he hears it. But when people start asking questions his flame fluctuates for a short moment.</p><p>“Evacuate?” the mayor asks, paws grasping at one another. “What do you mean, evacuate?”<br/>
</p><p>It’s the captain of the royal guard and two armored monsters that tell them. The fish monster, Undyne’s, scales have begun to freeze which is why most all of Snowdin is gathered in his bar and Grillby himself stands beside the woman, per her orders.</p><p>“You heard me,” she says in her gruff (and oddly strangled) voice. “Pack up what you need only, you’re not gonna be gone very long.”</p><p>The bear monster steps forward. “B-but why?” His skin folds in confusion.</p><p>Undyne glares, and her frown —present since she arrived, pulls deeper. She is silent for only a moment too long. “...there have been sightings of a human that entered from the ruins.”</p><p>“That’s—”</p><p>“That human.” The mayor clicks his mouth shut. “Is killing everybody it encounters.” There’s a shocked, horrified silence that washes over the town, that isn’t given enough time to fade in before Undyne has exhaled a loud breath and bares her teeth. “Now go! Pack up your junk! We’re meeting in Al— the Royal Scientist’s lab. Prepare for a giant fucking sleepover.”</p><p>With that, the woman turns away from them, sitting in the far booth while the two guards warn the town repetitively. He sees dawning horror bleed onto many monster’s faces, as though they’ve just realized something terrible, that they finally understood something. Grillby himself feels a similar horror press his flames.</p><p>He thinks of the dogs, members of the royal guard, sentries in the outskirts of Snowdin, and he feels as if a cup of water’s been poured over his head. He understands now why he hasn’t seen those monsters today. </p><p>They’ve all been killed.</p><p>A sickness settles in him.</p><p>Monsters, some reluctantly, most hasty, clear out of the building. Grillby is not unfamiliar with death, but his eyes linger on them in a way he hasn’t for anyone in a very long time (perhaps the most recent was the disappearance of a friend he can’t remember but is sure he knew).</p><p>He turns to the fish and armored monster’s who have huddled together in the booth. He joins them, and by the look sent his way he gets the impression that they had neither expected him to still be here nor expected him to sit here. That changes nothing to him.</p><p>Undyne sighs, dragging hands down her face as she does so, then gives him a frustrated eye. “You’re Grillby, right?” He nods. “Hgn. Papyrus’ told me a lot about you. Or, er, you’re food. Says it’s too greasy to be actual food.” He nods once again and doesn’t deny it. He knows his food is greasy and he knows papyrus hates it, that’s no surprise to him.</p><p>Quietly, as always, he goes behind the bar, unbothered by the strange looks that peer at his back, and within a couple of minutes he returns with three glasses in hand. They have done so much for the underground, a few free drinks are hardly a concern.</p><p>The three take the glasses somewhat uncertainly. Undyne finishes hers in one, large mouthful. “Thanks. God knows I needed that.” His fire dances slowly as he sits down again. “But seriously, go pack up your stuff. I need to go too.” She makes to get up but pauses. “...by the way. Have you seen Papyrus, or even Sans around here?”</p><p>There’s something in her voice that constricts his neck. She breathes.</p><p>Grillby hasn’t seen Papyrus, but that’s not unusual for him, seeing how much the tall skeleton hates this place. But neither has he seen Sans. At this time of day, he wouldn’t be worried about that, but with the news he’s heard…</p><p>“I have a meeting with him. He better show up.” The words are muttered under her breath. The sickness grows. “But, hey, if you see either of them, tell ‘em to evacuate too. And get going. Go to Hotland. Alphys will meet you guys there. If things go well, which they will because I’m here, you’ll be back before the day ends.”</p><p>This time they really do get up and he lets them go until his thoughts get the best of him.</p><p>“...Will you be fighting…”</p><p>His voice is soft. Unused but not strained.</p><p>When she looks back at him he sees determination in her eyes. “I sure damn will,” she speaks, and leaves it at that.</p><p>Suddenly, the building is empty and Grillby stands alone as the words repeat in his mind. The hope of a race echoes from them and he thinks and reels it back to the beginning.</p><p>Evacuate, she said, as if they had done so before. No, not one part of the underground has ever evacuated before. </p><p>He, however, has had experience with it before. He’d done so at least four times or so when he was young. Which is why, though still processing, he retreats to the back, retrieving a change of clothes, and fills the rest of his back with non-perishable foods that will hopefully last them. </p><p>As the only bar in Snowdin, he has a responsibility to feed his town.</p><p>… </p><p>Grillby does, in fact, see Sans.</p><p>They’ve just begun leaving Snowdin when he sees the Skeleton walk out his front door as if he were there all day. He doesn’t think he sees them because the monster doesn’t even turn his head slightly in their direction, and instead… sits on the snow?</p><p>The fire monster falls to the back of the group, separating from them and returning in the same direction he had come.</p><p>When he reaches the skeleton he squats in front of him, careful not to touch the snow. The monster looks up at him as though he were expecting him to come and his cheekbones widen just a bit.</p><p>Sans chuckles. It’s an uncanny sound. “Heya, Grilbz,” he voices. </p><p>Grillby’s hand twitches to grip the man’s shoulder bone but he refrains. Instead, he peers straight into his friend’s dark, empty eyes, only lit up by small pinpricks of magic. “...?” he tries, only the barest sound reaching the world. Still. The skeleton understands, like he always does, and the grin seems to dampen.</p><p>“I’m good,” he says. “So, I hear Snowdin’s evacuating. How’s that going?”</p><p>Grillby nods towards the group that diminishes into the small storm ahead. Then he looks towards the direction of the ruins.</p><p>“Yeah, uh,” there’s a pause but he waits patiently. “Human. Came from the ruins. Not very friendly, if I were to say so myself. But, eh…”</p><p>Grillby has listened to the skeleton complain about this and that thousands of times, but this is so unlike any of those moments. There’s so much to be said, he can hear it at the tip of the man’s teeth, but it’s silent. He lets it be. He can wait until later.</p><p>He nods again to the group.</p><p>“Right, sure. I’ll catch up, just have to do some things first.” Somehow, he feels even more uneasy at the words. A long pause follows. Sans looks down to the ground. “Hey, uh, could you make a burger for me? And— how about, a milkshake for Pap? Just, one to…” he trails off, unsure.</p><p>As the monster falls silent again, Grillby feels horror rise to his gut again. This time larger. This time stronger. His flame fluctuates and he tries to speak or move but finds himself only capable of staring into dark eye sockets.</p><p>Sans chuckles again and Grillby twitches, then nods slightly. Slowly. “Thanks,” he says, and shortcuts away.</p><p>It’s strange, but he feels as though he’s disappointed Sans.</p><p>… </p><p>The trip to Hotland is thankfully uneventful, human wise. Grillby found himself ignoring the cries of his town and their children for the silence of his own head.</p><p>He doesn’t remove his scarf or umbrella when they exit Waterfall, but he does take his hand out of his pocket.</p><p>Meeting the Royal Scientist is much different than he expected it to be. The monsters so much more… nervous, high strung, maybe even shy? She beacons them all into her lab, where many other monsters had already been waiting.</p><p>Some greet each other with hugs, fistbumps, and kind words but eyes very quickly become trained on one specific thing.</p><p>That being the large screen and the images that sequenced on it.<br/>
</p><p>Seeing the human onscreen is much different than seeing a human in real life. It almost feels unreal, like a movie, rather than something that’s actually happening.</p><p>The human travels through Snowdin. Each one of them is horrified seeing that young child Monster Kid hanging around the Christmas tree, having somehow split off from them. He chides himself for not noticing and feels great relief when the human walks straight past, not meeting another soul there.</p><p>The screen is shrouded in white for a while, caught in a snowstorm. The human spends longer in that area than it should take to walk through. Then it cuts to the waterfall entrance and out walks the human child.</p><p>Snow, somewhat grey in the light, flecks it’s hair and clothes. A knot thickens in him but he pushes it away.</p><p>Soon after the Royal Scientist shuts the screen off, shaking visibly and eyes wide. She validates it by offering them food and drinks so they can all rest. Grillby doesn’t take any, and instead watches the monster disappear into another room with the notion that she’s finishing ‘something up' and that, if they need anything, they can give her a call.</p><p>She leaves her phone on the desk, beside the numbers she wrote down for them. He doesn’t think she noticed.</p><p>They wait. Conversations rise. Worries rise.</p><p>Grillby is silent, he thinks and sits alone against the wall, unable to appreciate the heat of Hotland. He feels cold. Differently than Snowdin, different than the war. But familiar still. His soul is screaming at him, has been since morning. It’s telling him things and he knows he needs to listen but he can’t understand what it’s saying and he doesn’t know how to answer. He doesn’t know what he should do.</p><p>When the Royal Scientist returns, sweat is running down her head and tears are brimming in her eyes but on her face is a forced half-smile.</p><p>She smiles at them and breaths, then brings them all into the same room she had come from. Which is hardly a room, but rather a basement, a very large basement. She sits them all down in a large room lined with beds.</p><p>“I-I—” Her mouth twitches and the smile falls. “I— u— the— this is— is where you’ll be staying —for a while. I’m sorry— it’s so dark, and— and not very well t-taken care of. B-but it’ll have to do f-f-or now.” She says. Then falls silent, looking to her feet.<br/>
</p><p>“I have… some things to confess.” For the first time that day, her voice is steady.</p><p>And confess.she does. Grillby doesn’t know what to think when he finds out. It’s… such a hard thing to process. But after all that’s happening today, all the deaths that came so suddenly, he can hardly bring himself to try. He almost doesn’t care.</p><p>While monsters ask questions, while they cry for their friends and family, Grillby wonders how many monsters have died since they entered this basement.</p><p>And he feels cold.</p><p>… </p><p>The captain of the Royal Guard, Undyne, is dead.</p><p>As it turns out, even someone like her can be beaten by the human.</p><p>As it turns out, their day trip is extended indefinitely.</p><p>As it turns out, Sans and Papyrus never show up.</p><p>… </p><p>Safety, once in abundance, is now minimal.</p><p>And so Grillby throws it all away and leaves.</p><p>… </p><p>He doesn’t go to New Home, nor does he seek out the human. It would be no use.</p><p>He goes back to Snowdin because there’s nothing else he could do. Because he’d rather die at home than hide away in a dark lab. Because Sans said he would catch up and he didn’t.</p><p>The temperature between the threshold of Waterfall and Snowdin is shocking, and when he walks through it he smells dust.</p><p>Absentmindedly, he wonders if the Royal Scientist is watching him.</p><p>The town is just as abandoned as it was before. Or perhaps more so, because the child that had stayed by the Christmas tree is gone.</p><p>Despite this, Grillby finds himself knocking on Sans’ door to no response. So he goes home to his bar and regrets how cold it’s gotten in his absence.</p><p>He leaves his umbrella leaning on a chair, and would have done the same with his coat had he not left it in the Lab, along with the entire bag in case they might need it. And there he sits, watching the empty town from inside.</p><p>Out of a possibly misplaced hope, or maybe just to pass time, he retreats to the back to make a hamburger and a milkshake.</p><p>.<br/>
.<br/>
.</p><p>“...do you want anything…?”</p><p>The words reach him as if they are in two places at once, but soon after he hears a telling thud.</p><p>In a quick movement (because there’s a guilt and fear he doesn’t recognize pushing him) he’s taken the half-cooled food in his hands and returned to the main room.</p><p>The food falls to the floor and then he pulls Sans into his arms. He thinks that words are echoing from his mouth but Sans doesn’t look at him, lights trained on the fallen food. Almost surprised, almost alive. But his form has begun to dissolve and nothing could stop it now.</p><p>“H-heh, you… actually made—”</p><p>Dust wafts through the air.</p><p>The bar is comfortably warm.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p>
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